House G.O.P. Re-elects Top Leaders

By SUSAN F. RASKY, Special to The New York Times

Published: December 4, 1990

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3—
House Republicans today returned all their top leaders to office, leaving in place for the incoming 102d Congress a team that reflects the ideological schisms in the party.

Representative Jerry Lewis of California, a mainstream conservative who backed President Bush's budget compromise, easily turned back a challenge from Representative Carl D. Pursell of Michigan for the chairmanship of the House Republican Conference. The conference is the forum in which the 167 Republicans in the House discuss party policy and strategy.

Mr. Pursell, who is actually regarded as more moderate than Mr. Lewis, opposed the President's budget and was among the House Republicans who made an abortive attempt to fashion a "no-tax" alternative to it.

But his challenge to Mr. Lewis had less to do with old battles over the budget than it did with personality conflicts and the struggle between traditional Republicans and Republicans who want to define their differences with the Democrats more sharply, even if that risks disrupting House business and challenging the Administration. Gingrich's Role

Mr. Pursell was backed by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the House Republican whip, who is the leader of the rebellious faction. Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Lewis are longtime rivals and are expected to vie for the job of House Republican leader when the current leader, Representative Robert H. Michel of Illinois, who has talked on and off about retirement, steps down.

Although Mr. Lewis proclaimed the outcome of today's race as "somewhat of a disaster" for Mr. Gingrich, the results were not quite that clear-cut. Mr. Gingrich faced no challenge for his own post and backed the winning incumbent in a second, even more bitterly fought contest for the chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party's Congressional campaign arm.

Representative Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan, who has held the campaign committee post since 1975, defeated Representative Don Sundquist, a moderate from Tennessee.

Mr. Sundquist had raised questions about the high salaries paid to some of the top staff of the Republican Congressional Committee and the committee's noncompetitive procedures for awarding contracts. He had also complained that Mr. Gingrich, who eked out a narrow victory in his own Congressional re-election bid last month, was exercising undue philosophical influence over the campaign committee. Mr. Vander Jagt has denied the allegations and said today that he was willing to sit down with critics and review the committee's procedures.

Today's elections were preceeded by weeks of public feuding within the party and name calling.

Mr. Michel, also re-elected today without opposition, warned his colleagues that the 102d Congress would be "a total disaster" for Republicans unless they learned to stop sniping at each other and at the President and his top advisers. In an acceptance speech filled with veiled references to Mr. Gingrich's tactics and philosophy, Mr. Michel said that while there was room for guerrilla warfare in the House, it was no substitute for working constructively with the President. 'Outnumbered 268 to 167'

"We're now outnumbered 268 to 167, and each of us should remember it every time we get the temptation to vote against a party position or vote against the President," he said.

In a separate meeting later in the day, House Democrats re-elected their own leadership team by acclamation and planned to meet Tuesday to consider a number of changes to House rules, including several that are likely to be opposed by Republicans. Republicans are already charging that one proposed change regarding budget computations would undo some of the new enforcement procedures adopted as part of the deficit-cutting compromise.

Another proposed rules change would permit House members to receive contributions to help defray the legal costs or consulting fees related to the redrawing of their districts in 1992.

House Democrats will meet on Wednesday to decide on committee assignments, and at least one senior Democrat, Representative Glenn M. Anderson of California, is expected to face a challenge to his current chairmanship of the Public Works and Transportation Committee. That panel wil be particularly important in 1991 because it will be considering a major reauthorization of transportation legislation.

After considerable internal debate, Democratic leaders agreed last week to give Vermont's newly elected House member, Bernard Sanders, a seat on some committee of his choice, but not to permit him to join the Democratic Caucus. Mr. Sanders, a socialist who won election as an independent, has refused to join the Democratic Party, but had sought admission to the Caucus so that he could work with like-minded members on legislation.

Photo: Representative Robert H. Michel of Illinois, center, House Republican leader, conferring yesterday with Representative Bill McCollum of Florida afterHouse Republicans returned all their top leaders to office, including Represenative Newt Gingrich of Georgia, right, the House Republican whip. (Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times)